Board Notes: A Membership Update

Paul Neiffer, CPA, CliftonLarsonAllen, and past president of the Council, addresses the group at the Ag Finance Boot Camp.

Stephen Severe, CFO at Padlock Ranch and current FFSC president, is asked questions during one of the breaks.

Brenda Duckworth, CPA, a staff accountant with AgriVision Farm Management and co-chair of the FFSC Marketing Committee, fields a question.

Welcome to 2017

The celebrating is over and it’s back to the routine for most of us. But what a way to greet the new year….with lots of NEW MEMBERS!! We hit the 152 mark last week while at the Farm Futures Boot Camp Program……it has made it a challenge to keep the membership directory up to date….no sooner do we get an issue put together and we get a handful of new members, so we do it again….just wanting to keep it as current as we can.

New Guidelines Document is Out

You should have received your copy of the 2017 Financial Guidelines for Agriculture right at the first of the year. I was accompanied with the Summary of Changes which highlights the primary changes to the document. If you did not receive your copy of these please let me know and we’ll resend.

Boot Camp was Biggest Yet !!

When the entire concept of the Ag Finance Boot Camp was launched over 4 years ago no one knew for sure just what kind of reception it would get. And there were weather problems the second year which threw everything sideways. Last week’s Boot Camp in Bettendorf, IA was the largest audience yet….officially 137 at the beginning of the day and then they added extra tables and chairs. Obviously there is a demand for the information and Paul Neiffer, Brenda Duckworth and Stephen Severe were on hand to provide some of the ‘tutoring.’ Former Council Board Member Curt Covington was also on the program representing FarmerMac.

In addition to a handful of FFSC members we were pleased to see Past President Ron Swanson join the group. All in all a great day with some preliminary planning already underway to look at how we may be involved with Boot Camp V next January.

Here are some stats from the meeting.

Are you familiar with the Farm Financial Standards Council?

Yes — 21%

Somewhat — 19%

No — 60%

What accounting system do you use?

Quickbooks — 38%

Other — 32%

Excel / Manual — 20%

What is your age?

35 or younger — 39%

36 – 50 — 39%

51 – 60 — 15%

Over 60 — 8%

Which best describes your farming operation?

Cash grain — 53%

Grain & Livestock — 39%

Other — 5 %

Primariliy Livestock — 3 %

Your financial statements are:

Self-prepared — 75%

Accountant-prepared — 25%

How confident do you feel your lender is with your financial management?

High — 60%

Moderate — 35%

Low — 5 %

Do you know more about your finances than yur banker?

Yes — 68%

It’s a tie — 23%

No — 9 %

Do you know your deferred tax liability?

No — 66%

Yes — 24%

I don’t want to know — 10%

What method of accounting do you use to measure performance of your operation?